The Island of Love (Camfield Series No. 15) (12 page)

chapter seven

For
a moment Lydia felt she could not have heard what he said correctly.

Then she asked in a halting little voice:

“D-did you say we ... were to be ... married?” “Yes, darling,” he answered, “we are going to be married tonight so that there can be no arguments afterwards that you do not belong to me.”

“But ... Heloise...?”

“Heloise broke our engagement in front of your father and the Wodehouses,” the Earl said. “I accepted it, and as far as I am concerned the whole episode is finished.”

There was a hard note in his voice which instinctively made Lydia move nearer to him.

Then as she stared up at him her eyes wide and a little frightened, he said:

“Leave everything to me. Everything is arranged and all you have to remember is that I love you!”

As he spoke she felt as though the whole world was lit with a glory that was indescribable.

Then as they drove along the road there were people dancing and singing with happiness, and Lydia knew her heart was doing the same.

The carriage came to a standstill.

As the Earl got out and put up his hand to help her alight she saw they were outside the stately Kawaiahao Church which she had read about in Hawaiian history.

The Earl took her by the hand and drew her up the long flight of stone steps through the Ionic columns and into the dim sanctity of the Church which was lit only by candles.

Waiting at the altar steps was a Minister.

What the Earl had said had so surprised Lydia that she felt that what was now happening must be a dream and could not be true.

And yet as they stood before the parson and he began to read the Marriage Service, she felt as if all the angels in Heaven were singing and the Church was filled with music.

The Earl made his vows with deep sincerity, while Lydia’s voice was very soft. Yet she felt he knew how moved she was by what was happening.

She felt herself quiver when he put the ring on her finger.

Then as they knelt down for the blessing she thought all her prayers had been answered.

God had blessed her and the Earl in a way that was so wonderful, so perfect that she would never again, however long she lived, doubt the power of prayer, faith and hope which had brought her the man she loved.

After they had signed the Register in the Vestry and the Minister had congratulated them, they walked down the aisle and outside to where their carriage was waiting.

Only then did Lydia look at the Earl a little apprehensively, wondering if the beauty and sanctity of their marriage was to be spoilt by the row she knew must ensue when they returned and Heloise learned what had happened.

He knew what she was thinking and as they drove away he put his arms around her and said:

“You are mine, my precious, as I always meant you to be!”

“I ... I told you that you ... always win!” Lydia whispered. “But how can we tell Papa and ... Heloise what has ... happened?”

It was hard to say her sister’s name, and yet she knew it must be said.

The Earl smiled.

“You do not think I would let anybody spoil our happiness at the moment?” he asked. “I have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?”

“We are beginning our honeymoon in a very Royal manner.”

Lydia lifted her face up to look at him curiously, and it flashed through her mind that perhaps he was taking her to the Iolani Palace.

It was a place she would like to see. At the same time she thought that anyone even the King, would be an intruder at this moment, when she wanted to be alone with the Earl.

“I waited until the King was free,” the Earl said quietly, “and although His Majesty was very preoccupied with his Coronation I told him the whole story.”

“You ...told him?”

“I had a feeling, and I was right,” the Earl said, “that as a ‘Merry Monarch’ he would understand the complications women can make in a man’s life!”

He spoke teasingly and Lydia gave a little laugh as she moved closer to him.

His arms were like bands of steel as he held her against him, and she knew he was longing to kiss her but felt she must first hear his explanations.

“I told the King I was going to marry you,” the Earl went on, “and he immediately suggested we should use the Royal Barge, and we could sail along the coast to a quiet bay where he has a Beach-House.”

Lydia drew in her breath.

“We shall be there alone, my precious, except for the servants who will look after us, and my valet.”

“It sounds very ... wonderful!”

“It will be,” the Earl promised.

He did not kiss her because by now they were moving through the centre of the town towards the Quay and the noise in the streets was almost deafening.

The crowds were dancing and celebrating the Coronation in a way that only Hawaiians can, by dancing wildly but at the same time gracefully, and exuberantly, while it sounded as if there were a dozen Band: playing and everybody was singing.

There were flags and bunting, balloons and flowers, all lit by flares and gas-lamps, and Lydia felt that her own happiness was echoed by the excited Hawaiians.

It took them a little time to reach the Quay where the King’s Barge, painted red and ornamented with gold carving, was waiting.

The oarsmen were grinning as they stepped out of the carriage, and Lydia had the idea that they knew what had just taken place.

She was certain of it when a very attractive Hawaiian girl ran forward to put
Leis
of scented flowers round their necks, and there was also a bouquet of orchids for her to carry.

They stepped into the barge and the oarsmen rowed them swiftly through the water along the coast.

Now Lydia could see the whole of Honolulu lit up with lights, and it was a very beautiful sight against the Koolau mountains with the moon illuminating their peaks.

They were sitting within the covered cabin in the centre of the barge.

Lydia held tightly onto the Earl’s hand, but there seemed nothing to say except that she loved him, and now they were actually married she felt as if the whole world was singing a paean of praise for them.

It took only about a quarter-of-an-hour to reach the Waikiki beach and when the oarsmen stopped rowing Lydia could see on the other side of the deserted beach the roof of what appeared to be a small house.

She looked at the Earl and he said quietly:

“I think we will find it quite comfortable, my precious, but what is more important than anything else is that we shall be together.”

She wanted to tell him that if they had to stay on the island where they had been marooned without a roof over their heads and with only the palm-trees, she would have been happy.

There were palm-trees now either side of the King’s Beach-House and a number of shrubs which Lydia knew in the daytime she would find heavy with blossoms.

There was no quay but the oarsmen having brought the barge as near as possible to the shore stepped out into the water and Lydia realised they intended to carry her and the Earl to the shore.

Two of them lifted her up onto their shoulders and carried her safely onto the sand, but they did not put her down.

Instead they carried her right up to the Beach-House, and set her down just outside it where the building bordered on the sand.

Two other men carried the Earl and when he had thanked them and rewarded them for their pains they went back to the barge.

Standing with their oars pointed towards the sky they cheered loudly before they rowed away.

Only when they had done so and were disappearing back in the direction of the town did the Earl put his arm around Lydia and take her up the steps that led onto the verandah which ran the whole length of the house.

A door was open and inside there were lights but there was nobody about.

The Earl looked at Lydia for a moment, then lifted her up in his arms.

“Our first home together!” he said quietly. “For luck I must carry you over the threshold.”

She felt her heart beating excitedly because she was so close to him.

When they were inside the hut he put her down and she saw that it was not primitive as she had expected, but very comfortably furnished.

There were deep, heavily padded armchairs in what was the Sitting-Room, and also surprisingly a fireplace which could bum logs.

There was a desk and a bookcase, and the floor was covered with a thick carpet.

Lydia looked round with delight as the Earl undid the ribbons of her bonnet and threw it onto the table.

Then he put his arms around her, and very gently his lips found hers.

He kissed her with a tenderness and what she felt was almost a reverence, as if the sanctity of the Marriage Service was still in his mind.

Then his lips became more demanding, more insistent.

As if she was afraid of her own response she moved a little in his arms and said;

“Is it ... true? Is it really true ... that I am your ... wife?”

“You are my wife,” the Earl confirmed, “and I shall love and adore you for the rest of our lives together!”

“I can hardly believe it! It is so wonderful to be able to come here and be alone ... but you do realise that I have nothing to wear but what I have on, and also perhaps I ought to let ... Papa know what has h-happened.”

There was a tremor in her voice as she spoke her father’s name and the Earl knew she was still afraid that there might be a row and was apprehensive of what her sister might do and say.

“I have thought of all that, my precious,” he replied. “First of all, let me tell you that you will find in your bedroom your own clothes and an extra trunk as well.”

“My ... own clothes?” Lydia exclaimed.

She then remembered how she had seen her father’s valet together with another man going towards her bedroom when she was leaving the British Consulate.

“I had your own clothes brought here,” the Earl said, “and as I felt your sister would not be requiring all the gowns she had bought for her trousseau, I have stolen one of her trunks.”

“I ... I cannot believe what you are ... saying!” The Earl took her by the hand and drew her outside onto the verandah.

There was a seat running along it on which had been placed a number of soft cushions.

They sat down, and he put his arm around her and said:

“Why must we waste our time on such boring matters when all I want to do is kiss you? But as they have to be said, let us get them over, and then, my darling, I can tell you how much I love you.”

There was a note in his voice which made her quiver and she forced herself to say:

“I must know ... because I am ... worried in case we have ... done something wrong.”

“We have done nothing wrong,” the Earl said firmly. “Your sister told me in front of witnesses that she would not many me if I was the last man in the world. I accepted her decision and said that as far as I was concerned our engagement was over.”

Lydia wanted to say she was certain Heloise did not mean it. But there was no point in doing so, and she merely sighed as the Earl went on:

“I therefore, as I told you, spoke to the King who has lent us this house, and I left a letter for your father saying we were to be married, and I have arranged that as soon as the main part of the ceremony of the Coronation is over they will travel back to San Francisco on the Steamship
City of Sydney
in which the King started his voyage round the world. They will be quite comfortable and
The Duchess
will be waiting in San Francisco to convey them to New York.”

As the Earl finished speaking Lydia gave a gasp of relief and he went on:

“After our honeymoon, although we will stay in Hawaii until we feel we can face the world again, I am taking you home by a different route. We will go by train from San Francisco to New Orleans and take a ship from there which will carry us back to England.”

“It sounds ... very exciting!” Lydia said in a small voice.

“Before we do that, however, we have one obligation to fulfill.”

She looked up at him a little apprehensively and he said:

“The King very flatteringly did not want me to miss all the other excitements of his Coronation and, as I thought you might enjoy them too, I have promised that in a week’s time I will take you to stay in the Palace and we will attend the horse races in Kapiolani Park.”

Lydia laughed.

“I thought we would get back to the horses sooner or later!”

“Exactly!” the Earl agreed. “And the King is also anxious for me to see the Hula dancers which I think you will enjoy too.”

“It sounds very exciting,” Lydia murmured.

“I have also promised,” the Earl answered, “that we will attend another Ball, which is one of the reasons why, my lovely wife, I stole one of your sister’s trunks, knowing that you would want to dazzle everybody and I shall not have time to buy you all the clothes and jewels I intend to give you later.”

“Are you ... really saying ... all this to me? I ... I cannot believe what ... I am ... hearing!”

As she spoke she felt the tears come into her eyes and begin to run down her cheeks.

After years of being pushed on one side first by her father because she was not a boy, then by Heloise who wanted everything for herself, it seemed impossible that was now all changed as if a fairy had waved a magical wand to make all her dreams come true.

The Earl knew what she was thinking and gently held her close to him as she hid her face against his shoulder.

“I will not allow you to cry, my precious love,” he said. “You are going to be happy, as we were happy last night, or rather, this morning, on our Island of Love.”

“How can you be so wonderful ... so understanding and ... do so much for me?” Lydia asked incoherently.

“You told me I am a pirate,” the Earl replied. “Therefore having captured you I am prepared to steal or plunder everything and everybody to give you what you deserve, the perfect woman who I believed did not exist, and whom it would be impossible for me to find.”

“Oh, darling ... suppose I ... fail you?”

“You will not do that,” the Earl said. “Ever since I have known you we have been so closely attuned that it would be impossible for you to do anything that I did not know about and understand, or to deceive me in any way.”

He drew in his breath before he said:

“It is like finding a perfect pearl and knowing without even touching it that it is flawless. That is what you are!”

The way he spoke made Lydia’s tears run even faster down her cheeks, her heart was beating in the same way.

She turned her face up to his and with his handkerchief he gently wiped away her tears.

Then his lips held hers captive and he kissed her until the whole world seemed to revolve around them dizzily.

“I want you, my darling,” he said. “I have sent the servants away to their own hut which is somewhere behind us, so we are alone, which is what I have longed for and thought was impossible.”

“I told you there was ... always ... hope,” Lydia said in a quavering little voice.

“And you were right, Heart of my Heart.”

She thought he was about to kiss her, but instead he drew her to her feet and they walked into the house.

The Earl passed through the Sitting-Room and opened a door which led into a bedroom of about the same size.

When she saw it Lydia could not help gasping. ‘Only a King could imagine being Royal in a Beach-House!’ she thought.

The huge double bed which almost filled the room was draped with embroidered curtains and on top of the canopy was a replica of a crown.

She pointed to it and gave a little laugh, and the Earl laughed too.

“It is certainly something I did not anticipate,” he said.

“At least it looks ... comfortable.”

He pulled her close against him. Then he said: “Tomorrow, or perhaps some other day while we are still here, I am going to take you back to the island on which we found ourselves last night.”

She looked at him in surprise and he said:

“I wanted when I was there, more than anything I have ever wanted in my whole life, to make love to you amongst the blossoms and under the pine trees.”

Lydia hid her face against his neck before she said in a whisper:

“I ... I thought the same thing ... and how wonderful ... it would be!”

The Earl held her so close she could hardly breathe. “We think the same, and we feel the same. How could our marriage be anything but perfect when we are one person—or very nearly one!”

As he spoke she felt his fingers undoing the back of her gown and when a moment later he lifted her onto the bed she did not feel shy, but only a wild excitement that had also something spiritual about it.

She knew too a rapture which made her feel as if she was reaching for the peaks of the mountains.

Then when the Earl joined her she knew that this was the happiness she had never thought she would find, but which had come to her so unexpectedly and so suddenly that she was half-afraid it would vanish as quickly as it had come.

But as the Earl pulled her gently against him she knew he was deliberately keeping himself strictly under control, so as not to frighten her.

Because he was so gentle it made her want to cry again simply because she was so happy.

The curtains over the window were drawn back and outside she could see the sea silver in the moonlight and the stars twinkling like diamonds in the sky.